John Pulliam: Retail site reuse ideas abound

Sunday

Jan 31, 2010 at 12:01 AMJan 31, 2010 at 4:53 AM

"Down to Business" -- Maybe we need to be more creative in coming up ways to reuse the large empty buildings on North Henderson Street — Eagle Country Market, the old Wal-Mart building, Econofoods, etc. I still like ideas such as entertainment centers, even skating rinks, but maybe these buildings are best suited for retail or dining establishments.

JOHN R. PULLIAM

We recently went to Peoria to see “Avatar” in 3-D. (Don’t throw popcorn boxes at me, we go to a lot of movies at the ShowPlace 8 in Galesburg as well.) I saw an interesting reuse of a building while in the River City, however, which started the wheels turning.

The Westlake shopping area on Sterling Avenue has evolved in recent years from a rapidly emptying retail area to a busy center, with an emphasis on restaurants. (Yes, the empty Circuit City building is an eyesore, but the whole chain went out of business. That’s happened to us in Galesburg in the past, such as with Eagle Country Market.)

The change from retail to restaurants makes the reuse of the former Chi Chi’s Mexican restaurant even more interesting. Admittedly, I was tired by the time we stopped at the Dollar Tree in Peoria (no, I didn’t spend any money there. Get it in Galesburg. If I’m going to shop at Dollar Tree, it will be at the one on North Henderson Street. Geez, chill out.)

Anyway, I didn’t realize at first that it was the old Chi Chi’s. My wife pointed it out. Here is a building with a vaguely “shopping center” Mexican look, which gives Dollar Tree a big store. It also has a wonderfully visible place to put its sign, because of the configuration of the building that, I guess, was supposed to look like a huge adobe hut; difficult to tell for sure.

My point, he wrote, sensing readers beginning to wonder if there was one, is maybe we need to be more creative in coming up ways to reuse the large empty buildings on North Henderson Street — Eagle Country Market, the old Wal-Mart building, Econofoods, etc.

I still like ideas such as entertainment centers, even skating rinks, but maybe these buildings are best suited for retail or dining establishments. There have been rumblings at various times about a business or businesses moving into the Eagle building but nothing to report at this time.

At times I have also heard something could be in the works for the old Wal-Mart. I truly believe were it not for the recession, a store or stores would be in there by now. It’s a natural with all the shoppers at the adjacent Hy-Vee store. (Believe me, last Sunday it was almost impossible to navigate some of the aisles at the supermarket. Whatever happened to buying groceries on Friday night? Oh, that ended in the ’50s or ’60s? Are you sure? Hmm, OK, if you say so.)

As I’ve reported before, when a Wal-Mart Supercenter was built by Horne Properties in Ottumwa, Iowa, the former Wal-Mart building was turned into the home of three smaller businesses. It’s not likely that one store is going to need the considerable space of Galesburg’s old Wal-Mart, but I have to believe as the recession eases, all the traffic on the busiest street in town is going to attract new retail and restaurants.

Sandburg Mall, more often used as an example of the loss of retail, actually is a good example of creative reuses of retail space, which still could happen in some of the empty North Henderson Street buildings. Spaces at the mall that once housed stores now have tenants that include gymnastics studios and a fitness center. Carl Sandburg College’s Educational Technology Center uses a lot of space at the mall. The college did a great job improving downtown when it used the old Salvation Army Thrift store for its annex after The Salvation Army built a new thrift store on Home Boulevard.

Even Weaver Main Street Center, the old Radio Village Mall, now coming back to life, once was a W.T. Grants store. Facade work is turning buildings that already have tenants from eyesores to downtown jewels.

There are still stores I would love to see in Galesburg — Kohl’s, Barnes & Noble or Borders, or a large, locally owned bookstore, prominent among them — but restaurants can go into former retail space and vice versa and that’s a good place to start. I like ideas such as turning the old Ferris Moving & Storage building into a boutique hotel or lofts and using the old National Guard Armory for housing. There is a lot of potential here, a lot of ideas. I’m looking forward to seeing what we can do with these old buildings, rather than moaning and groaning about the rise and fall of North Henderson Street.

(I’d still like to see an indoor skating rink, though, and a Fun City-type of business. Just thinking out loud.)

John R. Pulliam is business editor at The Register-Mail. Contact him at 343-7181, Ext. 215, or jpulliam@register-mail.com.

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